Plant the Seed

4 and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”  Ezekiel 9

It's more punishment from God (this group of people had a ton of problems), but this time there are some who are spared.  They are spared because they "grieve and lament over all the detestable things."

We all see sin - every day in fact.  What is your reaction to it?  Do you give it any thought, do you sigh and shake your head, or do you grieve and lament?  Do you pray for that person?

Everyone has an opinion about something and someone.  There will be people who sin right in front of you.  You can either roll your eyes and mutter that they're an idiot and wonder why they can't see the harm they're doing or you can grieve and lament for them and share your concern for their future.  

I've talked to people who say that we only need to "plant the seed" with non-believers.  I disagree.  I believe that we need to constantly demonstrate living a life for Christ and talking to those non-believers about Christ.  That seed needs cultivation.

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred,sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”  Matthew 13

Thurs Devo: God, Honored as Holy

After the earth swallowed Korah, those with him and all his belongings, how would you expect the rest of the Israelites to react?

Number 16:34-40       ³⁴ At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us too!”

³⁵ And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

³⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ³⁷ “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to remove the censers from the charred remains and scatter the coals some distance away, for the censers are holy— ³⁸ the censers of the men who sinned at the cost of their lives. Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar, for they were presented before the Lord and have become holy. Let them be a sign to the Israelites.”

³⁹ So Eleazar the priest collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned to death, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, ⁴⁰ as the Lord directed him through Moses. This was to remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the Lord, or he would become like Korah and his followers.

I had a couple questions when studying this passage. First, why did the Israelites fear being swallowed? They had been warned to stay away from Korah, Dathan and Abiram and their tents. So, if they heeded the warning, why were they afraid? God can be trusted. He wouldn’t accidentally swallow more than He intended.

Second, why did God consider the censers holy, when they were last used by sinful, prideful, and rebellious individuals? In re-reading verse 38, God said they became holy because they were presented before Him. He declared them holy, in spite of the fact that they were presented in an unholy and disrespectful way.

Earlier, when Aaron’s sons approached the Lord in a disobedient way, Moses reminded Aaron of God’s previous words:

Leviticus 10:3           ³ Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke of when he said:

“‘Among those who approach me
    I will be proved holy;
in the sight of all the people
    I will be honored.’”

We can either voluntarily honor God as holy, or He can gain honor in spite of us. I’d rather enjoy the blessings of honoring God voluntarily, wouldn’t you?

How might you and I be approaching God in a dishonoring way? How will you and I approach our Holy God this week in an honoring way instead?  

Alice

Follow the Path

So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program.  And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility.  Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.”

Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith).  Acts 6:2-5

Over the past couple of months, I have felt challenged in different ways.  In those challenges, it feels that another path is being opened, and I have begun to pray what that might mean for me in the future.  That makes me nervous as no one truly knows what the future has in store.  When dealing with such uncertainty, there are two things I have come to rely on.  First comes from Proverbs 3:5-6, which says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”  The second, Philippians 4:13, says, “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”  These are powerful reminders for me that while I do not know what the future has in store, I should trust God fully for there is nothing that I cannot handle through Christ. 

We must always walk faithfully the  path that God has set before us.  Today’s verses focus on the story of Stephen, who was about to take on a far different path than what was supposedly set for him.  He was one of five given the task to run a food program.  That would seem uninspiring.  However, Stephen's path would lead him to perform miracles, be falsely arrested, be an unyielding testifier for Christ, and see God and Jesus in the heavens before being killed.  Now sure, we might look at it as, “Hey!  He got stoned to death, and that’s not good, right?”  But through simply choosing to follow his path, he did things that even most of the Apostles did not do and saw God and Jesus prior to going up to Heaven.  How many of you would make that trade (live an incredible God inspired life and seeing both God and Jesus near the end)?  Had he not been faithful and followed what was asked of Him, none of this would have happened.  The Book of Acts is full of stories where people made the choice to follow the path God had laid out for them, and from Peter to Paul to Cornelius and others, their lives were changed and blessed along with furthering God’s Kingdom. 

God has laid out our path to a greater understanding of His will for our lives.  We may not fully understand it and we may be hesitant to pursue it.  However if we fully trust in Him and faithfully walk it, we, like Stephen, will have a fully blessed life.  What path is God presenting you with?  How can you trust in Christ to courageously overcome your fear of pursuing it?  My prayer is that we trust in God and Jesus Christ, and then simply follow the path.  Amen.

Firm on a Foundation, Part 2

Matthew 7:1-5 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (NASB)

1 Corinthians 5:9-13 “I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?  But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.” (NASB)

Hello,

Last week I talked about the dangers of leaving the Biblical foundation for what is right/wrong. This week I want to extend that discussion a bit further to a common topic – judgment.

I believe we have a major definitional issue with the word judgment and how we use it (or in many cases how it is used towards us). There is a difference between making a judgment and making a statement.

The Bible warns us about judging others or pronouncing judgment many times – the verses from Matthew 7 above are perhaps the most well-known.

However, the Bible clearly states that we are to label sin for what it is – sin.

So, how are these different? Judgment involves the heart, a statement is an objective measurement against an agreed upon standard.

In Matthew 7, the warning about judging is clear – it will come back. However, what is often overlooked are the verses which follow in the same thought pattern. Notice that after we address the log in our eye – we are still to take the speck out of the brother’s eye?! – we are instructed to label things that are sin as sin, and address them. What we are to be careful is judging motive, intention etc – those things do not move towards removing sin. We are to address our sin issues, and then also address those of our brothers/sisters near us.

1 Corinthians 5 gives even more precision/clarity – God will judge those who do not claim Him…that time is coming! But those on the inside of the church who do claim God, we are to hold to the Biblical standard and not tolerate sin. We are to help one another break free of sinful addictions, and keep focused on doing what is honoring to God.

So – why does the world view things as judging, when we don’t feel we are judging? I believe it is because we make a statement that measures against the Bible as our standard…..but that standard is not accepted by others. When those we talk with do not have the same standard, that makes our statement appear to be judgmental.

I believe there are two challenges for us in this today:

1.      Call sin for what it is according to the Bible and deal with it, get rid of it. (Yes, we must read our Bibles regularly to stay in touch on this one – and also remember our motive for labeling sin and dealing with it is not out of pride, but out of love for what Jesus did on the cross)
2.           When you are discussing scenarios with those who may be non-believers, communicate the standard you are using (we cannot use any other standard – see last weeks devo to tie that together). This will add clarity, and provide an opening for a critical end of the conversation – who is God.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

The Father rejoices

Proverbs 23:22-25

Listen to your father, who gave you life,

and do not despise your mother when she is old.

Buy the truth and do not sell it—

wisdom, instruction and insight as well.

The father of a righteous child has great joy;

a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him.

May your father and mother rejoice;

may she who gave you birth be joyful!

With Father’s Day coming up, I thought it would be nice to talk about Father’s today.  I didn’t always have the greatest relationship with my Dad, however I am grateful for the relationship we have today.  Throughout the Bible we see it said to listen to your parents.  This is a lesson that my husband and I are always working on with our 2 year old.  Lately, it’s actually been getting better. 

Yesterday I watched as my husband played on the floor with my son.  My son climbed up on Daddy, gave him a huge hug and told him that he loved him and that he was the best Daddy!  This just melted my heart.  It also got me thinking, how often do we sit with our Heavenly Father and tell him that we love him and that he is the best?

The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him.  Do we bring our Heavenly Father great joy because we are righteous?  Does he see us as wise?   Let’s make our Heavenly Father proud with the way that we live our lives each day.